Gippsland Jersey is hopeful the company will find shelf space for its milk, after supermarket giant Coles slashed the number of stores where it's stocked by about 80 per cent.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Coles, which has been supplied by Gippsland Jersey for two years, would continue to stock the milk in about 14 of its stores after June 30, co-founder Sallie Jones said.
But that'll be down from between 75-80 stores, due to Gippsland Jersey not meeting Coles "margin requirements," Ms Jones said.
"We don't know what that volume will be reduced to, until the end of June, really," she said.
Ms Jones and Steve Ronalds, who founded Gippsland Jersey, have enlisted the company's Facebook followers to help in finding more outlets.
"We're on a quest to find new stores and milk lovers who will embrace Gippsland Jersey's delicious milk," they said on the social media site.
"The reality is that Gippsland Jersey can't meet Coles' margin requirements, and we weren't consistently reaching the sales targets they set each week", Ms Jones said.
"We understand that Coles is a major player in the industry, and we respect that."
But they said it was "unsettling" to see the extent of power they held over Australia's food system.
Coles was directly sourcing milk from farmers and was now operating their own processing plants, they said.
Late last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave Coles the green light to buy two former Saputo factories.
"The margins they expect from brands like us are high, yet they don't even break even on the milk they sell," they said on Facebook.
"The playing field is far from fair and needs to be called out."
Ms Jones said Gippsland Jersey was not being given a fair go in the Coles' milk fridges.
"We have only got two facings [two windows] in the fridge and it's like a bit of a 'Where's Wally?," she said.
"And, unfortunately, you have to 'pay to play'.
"If you want to go on promotion it's tens of thousands of dollars - and we just don't have the budget.
"I don't even have a sales rep."
She said "we tried so hard to make Coles work - I don't think I've worked harder".
Ms Jones said supermarket margins kept getting higher, "but how much profit are they making on the generic milk that they keep filling three quarters of the fridge with?"
"We understand they are paying their farmers well, and that's great, but how sustainable is that going to be?"
There had been significant support from the community and Ritchies chief executive Fred Harrison said he would expand the range in his stores.
"We've have had little greengrocers sending really heartfelt, beautiful messages to us, in support," she said.
A Coles spokesperson said an important part of its offer was giving customers choice when shopping.
"To ensure we have the right products available on shelf, we regularly review the ranges on offer to understand how items are being received by customers, and to help ensure the right products can be purchased by shoppers in parts of the country where there is most demand," the spokesperson said.
"We remain committed to continuing to support independent and local producers, and from July, we will focus on selling Gippsland Jersey in 16 stores in Victoria where we see most demand for this local brand from customers."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
